NEWTOWN BLUES 1-15
O'CONNELLS 1-7

Newtown Blues are safely through to the Senior Championship quarter finals after a commanding performance saw them defeat O'Connells in Group 3 at Stabannon on Sunday evening.

Inspired by Conor Brannigan, the Drogheda men had the upper hand for most of the hour but lost their way in the closing stages of the first half and as a result went in three points down. However a goal from Alan Wilton seconds after the restart put them back in control and the result was never in doubt after that.

The O'Connells needed a ten-point winning margin to qualify ahead of the Blues and that never looked likely as the Drogheda outfit made a great start with points from Conor Brannigan (2), Colm Judge and Kieran Downey putting them four ahead inside 12 minutes.

However, they failed to press home that advantage and the O'Connells hit back to cut the gap to 0-5 to 0-4. Cian Doyle was having a particularly productive spell and he set up a goal for Robert Quigley on 25 minutes before winning a free that saw the Bellingham men lead by 1-5 to 0-5 at the break.

It didn't take long for the Blues to get back level as Wilton got in behind the defence to find the corner of the net just 20 seconds after the restart. Colm Judge pointed to restore the Newfoundwell team's lead soon after and from that stage there was only going to be one winner.

The Blues impressed going forward in the second half with Hugh McGinn, Conor Moore, Kieran Downey and Ross Nally all on target as they eased to a eight point win which means they will play Dundalk Gaels in the quarter-final.

NEWTOWN BLUES: Danny Rothwell; Niall Costello, Stephen Moonan, Jimmy Murray; Paul Moore, John Connolly, Jamie Kelly; Conor Brannigan 0-2 (1 45), John Kermode; Brian Kermode, Cormac McQuillan, Kieran Downey 0-4 (1f); Colm Judge 0-4 (1f), Alan Wilton 1-0, Conor Moore 0-1. Subs: Hugh McGinn 0-2, Fergal Donoghue , Aidan O'Brien 0-1, Cormac Reynolds, Ross Nally 0-1 .

O'CONNELLS: Sean Connolly; PJ Tuite, Keith Woods, Jason Carroll; Jackie Agnew, Salem Rifaie, John McLaughlin; Ciaran O'Brien, Conor McGill 0-1; Paul McKeever, Cian Doyle, Niall Conlon 0-1 (1f); Robert Quigley 1-2, Sean Cairns 0-1, Stuart Reynolds 0-2 (1f, 45). Subs: Conor Culligan for C O'Brien, David Hoey for K Woods, Dean Corrigan for P McKeever.

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